Kigidly the ends of metal beams



UNITED STATES PATEN OFFICE.

SAMUEL NOIVLAN, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

CONNECTING RIG-IDLY THE ENDS OF METAL BEAIVIS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 19,945, dated Apri] 13, 1858.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL NOWLAN, of the city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Im.- provements in the Methodof Jointing or Connecting and Securing the Ends of Metal Beams Togetherfor Building and otherl Purposes; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and exact description of the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings and to the let-ters of reference markedthereon.

The nature of my invention consists in connecting metal beams togetherby inserting the tongue in the end of one beam into the mortise in theend of its connecting beam and securing the tongue in its position inthe mortise, and the beams together by pouring molten metal between thetongue and the mortises to ll the space left between them for thatpurpose.

Figure l in the accompanying drawings is a perspective View of themortised beam and Fig. 2 a similar view of its connecting tongued beam.Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of the beams jointed together,taken through the center of their width and Fig. 4 is a perspective viewof the beams jointed together.

A is a section of a cast-iron beam to be applied to building, bridge orother purposes, having upon each of its ends the tongue or tenon B, orhaving a tongue at one end and a mortise at the other, or having atongue only at one end as the position -or the purpose to which the beamis to be applied requires. The end (or ends) of the beam has bracketedenlargements projecting above its upper and belowits lower face to meetand fit similar projections upon the mortised beam hereinafterdescribed.

B is a tongue or tenon projecting from the end of, and castwith, thebody of the beam, and of a size proportioned to the size of the beam andto the pressure or strain to which the beam is to be subjected. It ismade tapering from its base to its end so as to bring its greateststrength and support at its base, and has a projecting catch C upon` itsupper side at the end which forms a locking piece to hold the beam fromspreading laterally from its connecting beam before the beams aresecured together and also to effect the same purpose after the beams aresecured together as hereinafter described.

D is a section of a beam of similar eX- ,ternal form to the one beforenamed, but

having a mortise or aperture E formed or cast in either or both of itsends to receive the tongue of the beam A. This mortise has a recess atthe upper part of inner end fitted to receive and hold the projection Cof the tongue B. The mouth of the mortise is made the base of the tongueB, and its inner end is made of a height suflicient to permit the end ofthe tongue tobe inserted into it and allow the projection C to slip intoits place in the -recess made to receive it. After the tongue is soinserted, and the projection on it is placed in position in the recessnamed, a space will be left between the lower part of the tongue and thelower part of the mortise (as shown in Fig. 3) in which moltenmetal-either cast-iron, lead, a miX- ture of lead and tin, or such othermetal or mixture of metals as may be found best adapted to the purpose,and be most readily applied-is to be poured through the orifice F formedfor that purpose, to iill up the space thus left, and to complete theligure and shape of the mortise and perfectly fitit to the tongue, andto hold the mortise and tongue in such intimate contact and connect-ionwith each other that they cannot be drawn apart and separated. The airwhich is confined in the space named will be driven out, as the moltenmetal is poured in, through the orice F or through the intersticesbetween the tongue and mortise, and betwen the ends of the beams thatwill naturally occur in fitting them together. The end (or ends) of thisbeam has bracketed 'enlargements the same as those described on the beamA. These enlargements are put on and added to t-he beams to increase thestability and rigidity of them, when joined together, by increasing theleverage distance from the top of the joint to the center of the tongueand by providing a larger bearing face to the ends of the beams.

To increase the stability and permanency of the joint I makecorrugations or indentations on the surfaces of the tongue and of themortise between which the molten metal is to be poured. This featurewhen combined with the peculiar construction of the tongue and t-hemortise is very important inasmuch as the security of the joint does notentirely depend on the projection C, when submitted to a strain in thelongitudinal `direction of the beams, as it is the case when saidsurfaces' are smooth.

The advantages of my improvement are, that the beams are not weakened bydrilling or otherwise forming both holes through them to secure themtogether, as in the usual manner that the beams are more securely andrigidly jointed together, and have not the opportunity, or theliability, of displacement, as when jointed together by bolts and thatthe jointing is less expensive, as the tongue and mortise can beperfectly formed in casting, and will require no uture fitting together,while the jointing metal and its application is cheap and ineX- pensive.

I am aware that gas and water pipes are jointed together by pouring inmolten metal to conline the ends of the pipes together, and that moltenmetal has been used to conne bolts and other fastenings in stone andother material, and I do not therefore claim broadly the use of moltenmetal poured nto a joint to confine and retain it in place,

What I do claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentis- Forming a rigid joint of two metal beams by pouring molten metalbetween the tongue of one beam and the mortise of the other, constructedrespectively and arranged in the manner described z'. e. when the sidesof vthe tongue, which have a latch projection,

fit on to the sides of a similar shaped mortise and socket and when theopposite sides of both, the tongue and the mortise are corrugated andleave a space between themselves, into which the molten metal is to bepoured substantially in the manner and for the purposes specied.

y SAMUEL NOWLAN. Witnesses:

SIDNEY Low, FRANCIS T. Low.

